


A World Too Perfect

by Nyenien



Series: The Ghost Children: Their stories [1]
Category: Coraline (2009), Coraline - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Dark, Friendship, Horror, Hurt No Comfort, Minor Original Character(s), Multi, Not a lot tho, Prequel, Psychological Horror, Sad Ending, Slice of Life, These guys deserve their own movie, i love them, no joke, okay some comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-19 02:33:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22737247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyenien/pseuds/Nyenien
Summary: Three children are ousted by society. How do they cope? By each finding a new, better world.
Relationships: The Tall Ghost Girl/The Sweet Ghost Girl/The Ghost Boy
Series: The Ghost Children: Their stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1634884
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	A World Too Perfect

July 21st, 1921.

The day they’ll leave.

Evelyn tried not to think about that. She flipped up the eggs in a precise manner and watched in satisfaction as they sizzled in response. She shook them a little in the pan, making sure the butter was soaking into the eggs before scooping them up and placing them on the plate on the counter next to her. It still steamed after it was out of the frying pan, along with the others on different platters.

She picked the plates up- three, with the same amount of bacon and eggs on each one -and walked around the corner to the living room, over to the table were her brother and sisters sat eagerly. Her heart swelled the way it always did seeing them, but now an ache sat beneath it, eating away at her stomach. How long were they going to be gone? A week? A month? She thought it was a month, but she wasn’t sure.

When the three children met her eyes, they grinned, which made her feel a little better. Ashlyn doesn’t like a lot of change, and Lilia can be quite anxious, but she was sure they’ll enjoy going out of state for a few weeks. It could be quite...  _ bland _ in Oregon. 

She wished she could go with them, but she and Mother needed to keep the house in check while the rest of the family was gone, which is the  _ worst _ and she  _ wasn’t sure she could bear being alone for a day _ . She was also the oldest, she should be there for him! She could never forget the time she left them unattended to go get groceries- the house was absolutely  _ trashed  _ afterward . Doesn’t her mom remember that?

Evelyn sighed, knowing her emotions were exaggerating the truth, but she didn’t really want to admit that her parent’s reasonings did make sense. Father would be able to keep the three under control on the road trip and it’d be hell for Mother to try and keep the house tidy throughout the weeks- of course, this is the best option for both parties. And she was thirteen, she could keep track of herself.

She kept her smile on as she slid the plates across the table to her three siblings; Noah, Ashlyn, and Lilia. The troublemaker, the calm, and the innocent, in the same order.

Noah jumped at the sight of food- she could tell he was the most excited. Well, he was always excited- a high-strung goofball. Ashlyn looked as emotionless as ever, but the sparkle in her eyes was much brighter than before.

“Yes! You have  _ no _ idea how hungry I am! You took forever!” Noah hollered noisily, but it barely affected the girls. Everyone was used to his boisterous personality.

“Bacon and eggs?” Ashlyn murmured, using her fork to pick at the stray bits of yolk that poured out of the sunny side up eggs. She was quite the opposite of Noah, always quiet and calm, assessing her surroundings before making a move. Evelyn knew she was cheerful today- she never spoke unless spoken to. “I thought Noah ate all of our stock yesterday.”

“Wow,  _ rude _ .” The rambunctious boy sniffed, poking the girl in the face with an obviously fake scowl. Ashlyn hardly reacted. “I’ll have you know I held myself back quite a lot, I only ate three eggs and five pieces of bacon!”

“No, you had six eggs and ten pieces of bacon, Noah.” Evelyn corrected.

“Shh, Evel- I’m trying to prove a point here.” Noah whispered loudly.

Lilia giggled, clapping her arms together childishly. Her loveable grin still stayed on- Evelyn wasn’t sure if the girl could stop smiling.

Evelyn couldn’t stop herself from beaming at the three children, yet she also couldn’t stop herself from feeling the dark pit in her stomach grow larger and larger. She kept flicking her gaze at their grandfather clock in the corner as if she could magically stop time with the intensity of her eyeballs. 

5:54 pm. 5:57 pm. Why was time going so fast all of a sudden? The girl rubbed her hands together anxiously, and Ashlyn’s critical gaze on her wasn’t helping. She really was wise beyond her years, which was nice in conversations, but  _ horrible _ when she was trying to keep up her ‘big sister’ persona.

6:00 pm. Only ten more minutes and then the car will be picking the three children up, and she won’t see them again for a month. A  _ month _ . The thought made her thump her leg up and down to try and ignore the hollow feeling that was beginning to swallow her up. She didn’t even remember why they were leaving so long. She knew how hard it was for Father to get free time- so one of the only ways they were able to spend time with each other is to go with him on the job. The last time he did that was when Evelyn was a child, before Lilia and Ashlyn were born.

Evelyn felt a sudden, abrupt stab of guilt for being so selfish. Fathers just trying to spend time with his children. She didn’t need to come; shes a young woman. She’s  _ supposed _ to learn to take care of herself. She also knew that someday she was going to move out and have her own kids, by that time she won’t even see her siblings as often as now. She also knew how much Father liked Noah. He was loud and noisy, but he is the only boy in the household, of course, he needs to be taught to be a leader himself.

She didn’t like that, though. Shes never liked how worthless she felt by just being a girl.  _ She _ wants to run the house,  _ she _ wants to be the one getting a job, not be _in_ the house for the rest of her life doing nothing.

Evelyn looked back at the others, specifically Noah. She’d never blame him for it, but it worried her thinking that one day he was going to be the one leading the way. And it hurt. A lot.

“I think its time for you guys to get ready to go,” Evelyn said, trying to keep up a hint of lightness to her voice to not cause any worrying in the group. “Finish up your food, you guys- and don’t make yourself choke, Noah.”

“Okay!” Noah chirped, scraping up the last remains of bacon and shoving them down his throat, ignoring her order. The girl sighed, letting herself be amused for a few moments and ignore the sharp eyes of Ashlyn staring at her. She sat up, walking around the table to Lilia on the left, in her booster seat. The four-year-old looked at her, her eyes shiny and pure and happy in a way Evelyn wished she felt.

As she picked up the little girl, the thought that Lilia was quite young to be going on a road trip made her hesitate in place. She was just four years old- why was  _ she _ the one to go on vacation and not her? It seemed a little unsafe, and that just made the girls already worried thoughts become even more fearful… and suspicious. Was this a test? Maybe to see how well she can take care of herself alone? She’s never thought of her father being the one to test her- but this was odd.

Maybe she can ask her to stay. That immediately soared her hopes up, only to be shot down as the sound of tires turning could be heard in the distance. Evelyn quickly carried the little girl over to the entryway to put her down and open the door to the outside.

A car rolled up towards the thick fog, a gray so light its as if it was made out of the fog itself. As the vehicle began to park just ten feet away from the Pink Palace, she closed the door to swivel her head to the inside of the house. Did it look okay? Her family was simply middle-class, but they were crazy for impressions.

Nothing seemed to be super messy besides the leftover plates on the table and maybe a few toys here and there. Still, she cleaned those up, just to be safe.

Evelyn walked to the edge of the stairs. “Mom!” she called, “the cars here!”

A few thuds, then footsteps, which began to get closer and closer. Evelyn didn’t wait for her mom, quickly walking back to were Lilia sat. She was fiddling with one of the boots on the shoe rack. She gently plucked the boot away from her, placing it back onto the shelf, before getting the tiny shoes at the bottom and looking back at her.  Lilia sat down and stretched her feet for Evelyn to put her shoes on. She didn’t have to look to see that Noah and Ashlyn were getting themselves ready too, and she felt a spark of pride, until it got quickly swept down by dread.

She didn’t want to be alone. She  _ really _ didn’t want to be alone. She just wanted to scoop Lilia, Ashlyn and Noah up and force them to stay, but the moment she thought that she felt bad. She never wants to keep them against her will- really, she wants them to _have_ free will -but she desperately doesn’t want them to leave. It was going to be so lonely without them.

She knew no matter how much her parents loved her they wouldn’t take her words into consideration so late. She understood that, but that also hurt. Was there really nothing she could do?

Evelyn finished tying Lilia’s shoes. She picked her up and turned back to the door as Mother walked gracefully towards it, her heels clicking on the wood floor in small  _ tap-taps _ . She looked like a model- curled brown hair, red lipstick, black dress… she really wants to make an impression, as usual. Evelyn looked down at herself self-consciously, at her dirty dress from cooking, her sticky hands, her messy braids- everything seemed to look wrong now. This was only just meeting up to take her siblings on a road trip, yet she felt like she was about to go on stage at a fancy party.

Mother opened the door with a quiet  _ creeak _ and didn’t keep the door open as Noah and Ashlyn trailed after her, causing Evelyn to hold it open with her spare hand so they didn’t get whacked with it. While they walked past, Noah grinned in his usual stuck up but friendly way, which made the girl smile back at him. He strutted out the door with Ashlyn walking quietly by, and when they were gone, Evelyn walked out with Lilia sitting on her right arm.

The sight of the car made her stomach turn. It must be one of the expensive ones, although Evelyn was never allowed to learn about their names. It was always,  _ “you’re a girl, you don’t have to learn about this kind of thing.”  _ or  _ “leave the boys to learn about car models and teach yourself to stay in the house like you’re supposed to.” _ which, frankly, didn’t make much sense to her. Why did it matter to them that she wanted to know what a car model's name was?

She shrugged it off most of the time, because everyone knew that was the norm, but it still stuck with her. Something like that she couldn’t just… ignore, because that was really what was going to happen to her someday. She’s going to be in the house, make dinner for her family, get all dolled up just for her husband to come home and barely bat an eye at her. 

She inwardly bleched. At least that wasn’t going to happen to her for a while.

Shakily, Evelyn put Lilia down, and the girl gleefully waddled after her other siblings.  At least at this age, she didn’t seem to understand too much about tension, because it was thick in the air. Even Noah was looking a little different, blinking back toward her and the car, before seemingly shrugging it off and putting his bag into the back seat. A couple of car figurines tumbled out of said bag, and he cleaned that up quickly without much notice to the calculating looks of Mother and Father staring at him.

Father. She locked gazes with the man. He was burly and round but definitely had some muscle to him, with a nice cut beard and her same clear blue eyes. His eyes always twinkled like stars, but right now not much sparkle was behind them, which was understandable to Evelyn. He needed to keep good composure for impact. Three other men sat in the car, each looking practically identical, with stubby hats and black tuxedos. It looked way too formal for just picking up some children, but she didn’t dare say that out loud.

...it was time to say goodbye. The girl’s heart twisted, feeling like it was getting tugged out of her body, and she didn’t feel like her composure was doing well at all with now emotional she felt. She hoped to the stars they didn’t notice it, that they just thought it she was bittersweet, because she felt like she was about to explode.

Noah came first, then Lilia, and finally Ashlyn, before they all stood in front of Evelyn, with varying degrees of melancholy in their faces. 

Again, Noah made the first move(which gave her a little happiness knowing he was probably going to do okay without her), hugging Evelyn in a metal grip which made the girl make a soft  _ oof _ . That barely mattered, as quickly Ashlyn and Lilia joined in in their group hug.

Evelyn’s heart swelled, causing a genuine feeling of joy to overwhelm her while she hugged them back just as tightly. She’s going to miss these bear hugs, too. They were always so comforting when she was down; she hopes she’ll be able to get another one when they come back.

“Were gonna miss you!” Noah said, backing off, which felt like it took all the warmth right out of Evelyn. “I am  _ so _ excited though, what do you think it’s going to be like there? I really hope there’s a lake- I’ve never seen one! Do you think-” Noah talked on and on, and even though Evelyn would’ve loved to listen to his ramblings, she focused her attention on Ashlyn as she began to speak, too. “I hope it doesn’t hurt you too much,” she whispered, looking up into the other girl’s eyes. “I hope we can see you again.”

_ If only you knew.  _ Evelyn looked back at her with a smile, “I’ll miss you too.” 

The last thing she said stuck with her, though.  _ Hope? That’s… ominous _ . It really wasn’t helping the girl’s worries get much better.

“We wove you!” a squeak said from the ground, and she blinked down to see Lilia still hugging at her waist. She grinned, but she forced herself to pluck her from her grasp and move out of their way. She shouldn’t waste much time, they should be going now.

They all looked a little sad, but excitement was quickly overpowering them, and as the three children raced away and hopped into the car, it was as if they were taking a bit of Evelyn’s heart with her. She clutched it, making sure it was still there and beating. She held back against all her fantasies of yanking them all away from that godforsaken car and booking it. She really didn’t feel safe anymore, without them by her side.

Father jumped into the passenger seat, and the engine whirred. In a flash, it was as if they disappeared into the fog itself, leaving behind any warmth Evelyn still had in her chest. In just a few moments, the sound of tires along the gravel faded away, leaving her and her mother standing, watching, as if waiting long enough would magically make them come back.

A huge sigh, and she watched as Mother’s composure quickly ceased. Her shoulders sagged in exhaustion like she had just run a marathon, and she slowly, dejectedly, walked back into the house, silently closing the door behind her.

Evelyn stood there for who knows how long, watching the fog slowly crawl over the stone tiles and gravel, through the colorless trees, and finally traveling to her herself, coiling around her legs like snakes. She shivered involuntarily, wrapping her arms around herself as she began to suddenly feel so  _ cold _ and so  _ vulnerable _ . Whenever she did leave, when she went to go get groceries or buy gifts, she had the comfort of knowing that she went back home, her sisters and brother would be there, to welcome her and talk to her and make her days a little less insufferable. But now, she felt no support- like any type of protection she did have slipped through her hands like water, gone and not coming back in a long, long time.

As she watched, silently, growing colder by the minute, a creeping feeling seemed to make the hairs on the back of her neck raise- like, suddenly, knowingly -everything was about to change.

**Author's Note:**

> Ohh, things are about to change, Evelyn.
> 
> HAHA! What's this? Me working on another story and ignoring Patchwork entirely? Yep!  
> I do really wanna get Patchwork done, but I've had this idea in my mind for SO long and, gosh- I really needed to get on with it. I'm super excited to continue this, but please know that I'm going to be working on Patchwork and this at the same time, so updates of this might be irregular.  
> But onto rambling, the ghost children are underrated. I've always wanted to learn about their story, and I've also loved the idea of them getting their own movie, but sadly, that's probably not going to happen. So how do I cope? By making an entire story of it, of course!  
> Evelyn here is my interpretation of The Tall Ghost Girl. She just gives me some huge big sister vibes, I dunno why. Along with that, the way her face seemed to be screaming in the movie has intrigued me forever, so trust me, I'm going to be using that to make her story a little... scary. >:)  
> (Tbh all of the characters' stories are gonna be scary oof)
> 
> I still hope you enjoy! Feel free to kudos this and comment, I LOVE hearing your comments :D I love y'all!


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